A Silent Band Practice
by BrickmasterGuy
Summary: "I know what you are now. I think I knew before, but, you know. After I sent that kid to the hospital, years ago, they said I had an anger problem. But that's not true. I was angry because of something else. Something I'd lost. Trying so hard since not to be angry got me all defenseless. And I lost more, and more, and more... That's not getting better." WHERE YOU CAN BELONG SEQUEL
1. Bombshell After Bombshell

Bea walked out from the mine into the woods. It had felt like a lifetime had gone by while Mae and Bea were there, yet the sun hadn't even risen.

Bea was still trying to comprehend what had just happened. Mae joined the cult. The same cult she had been fearing for almost a week. The same cult that killed Casey. And now the two had broken up? Is that what happened? Bea wasn't really sure.

She began walking back to town, her tears still drying on her face. She tried to stop thinking of Mae and of the cult. It wasn't easy. Her dad _hadn't_ made her tougher.

She unlocked the door to her apartment. Mae's phone was still on the counter. Jeez, why was Mae so stupid? Why was _Bea_ so stupid? How could she let Mae do that? How could she let Mae make that mistake?! How could she say those things about Mae? Why did she do that? Why did she have to mess up so bad?

Bea sat down on the couch. This apartment was built on a foundation of sacrifice. How could her dad do that? Kill innocent people? Drag Mae into it? Destroy her relationship?

Bea sighed. She wanted to get up and shout at someone. But who would she even shout _at?_ Mae was in a cult, as was her dad, and Gregg and Angus were gone. She had no one. Except for fucking Germ.

Fuck, how could her life get so much more messed up in just one night? She needed a cigarette.

After lighting a cigarette, she pulled out her phone, pausing to look at the wallpaper of her and Mae. She began texting Gregg.

" _gregg_ "

She needed a goddamn drink. If she took just a little bit of her dad's, it would matter, would it? So, she stood up, walked to the fridge and grabbed some random whiskey. She poured herself some and sat back town.

Jeez, smoking and drinking, huh? Already wasting her life away, wasn't she? How fucking stupid was she? She took a swig.

" _yeah_ "

Bea looked down at her phone. How could she explain all of this to him? How could she explain to cheerful Gregg that the cult was back? That Mae and her dad were part of it? That her and Mae had broken up? That it was all her fault?

" _a lot of stuff happened at the mine tonight_ "

Way to start the conversation. With a vague statement about nothing. She breathed out a puff of smoke.

" _like what_ "

" _well the cults back_ "

Bluntly, huh? Well, that'd work. She took another swig. Go ahead, idiot, drink away your sorrow. Shorten your life by thirty years.

" _what? like actually?_ "

" _yeah its there in the mine_ "

Good thing Bea had the audacity to text her friend at four in the morning. She took another swig. Hopefully she'd forget everything that happened tonight if she drank enough.

" _well shit. so now what?_ "

That was a good question. Now what? Stop the cult? Yeah, right. With whom? Germ? Sure. She breathed out another puff of smoke.

" _I dont know. stop the cult maybe?_ "

" _well do you need me and angus to come and help you?_ "

Oh good. Time for her to rip this happy couple away from their life so that they can deal with her problems. She took another swig. She was definitely tipsy now.

" _I don't know_ "

" _well can you and mae do it by yourself?_ "

Heh, cool. Second bombshell.

" _me and mae broke up_ "

" _what? what happened_?"

And now the third.

" _mae joined the cult and I was unhappy about it_ "

" _what do you mean she joined the cult?!"_

" _i mean she did. my dad invited her_ "

" _what was your dad doing there?!_ "

Jeez, it was just one after another, wasn't it. She downed the last bit of whiskey in her cup.

" _hes part of the cult_ "

" _really? what even happened while you were at the mine?_ "

" _everything i just said_ "

" _so should me and angus come back to help?_ "

" _yeah i guess_ "

" _alright i'll try to leave this afternoon and we can probably be there in two days alright?_ "

" _yeah that sounds good_ "

" _bea are you ok?_ "

That was another good question. She actually knew the answer to that question though. No. She wasn't.

" _yeah_ "

" _alright then i'll call you later_ "

" _bye_ "

Bea smoked the rest of her cigarette before putting it out in a nearby ashtray. Great. Time to sleep. Time to forget everything that had happened.

She laid down on the couch. The lights were still on, but whatever. It didn't matter that much. She still managed to fall asleep.


	2. Lying to Spread the Truth

Mae didn't hear the body hit the bottom, but after a minute of waiting, she was sure it had. She had really done it, huh? Well, it would save her and her friends, her family and her town. Right?

"Well," Bea's dad began, resting his hand on Mae's shoulder, "you did what had to be done."

"...So, this'll work?" Mae asked.

"It always has," he responded.

It was a necessary evil. It would benefit the whole town. It had to be done. Besides, if she hadn't done it, someone else would.

"Mae," one of the cultists started.

Mae turned around to face the cultist, "Yeah?"

"That girl you were fighting with. She's opposed to our group?" the cultist questioned.

"Uh, yeah," Mae answered, trying to stop thinking of her.

"Something similar to this has happened before. Here's some advice." the cultist explained, "Sometimes someone will try to pry you out from our group. They might try to convince the people close to you that you need to leave our group. You can't let that happen. It happened once before and nearly ruined everything. If someone gets that far, it puts us all in danger."

Mae simply stood there and absorbed the information. She briefly looked over to Bea's dad. He seemed to have heard it before.

"So, Mae, if that girl starts to turn your friends and family against you, you must stop her. It may be necessary to turn your friends and family against her. It might be the only way to protect our group." the cultist continued, "We hope it doesn't come to that, but if she tries to pry you from our group, you must stop her."

The cultist spoke in an unnatural, creepy tone. He spoke quietly, but with force. It was almost authoritative.

Mae wanted to disagree. She wanted to tell them to go screw themselves and she wanted to run back to Bea. But, she had gotten this far. Besides, she needed to fix herself. Get rid of the dreams and headaches. Fit in again. Etcetera. So, instead of telling them to fuck off, she agreed.

"Alright, I can do that," Mae nodded.

"Good," the cultist said.

"Alright, well, I think we're done fer tonight. Mae, come back in two days fer some important meetin' stuff. Everyone else, come back tomorrow night fer more construction work," Bea's dad told everyone.

Immediately following the message, everyone began walking towards the elevator. Mae followed. The cultists were talking like they had just met up at a bar. One asked another if they had watched the football game last night. Another complained about their boss. It was bizarre.

Everyone began walking out of the mine's opening. They began to disperse, walking different directions, waving goodbye. They seemed way too… normal to be in the cult. The group.

Mae walked back into town, making her way back to her house. She reached into her pocket to grab her phone. She hoped to text Bea some stuff about her decision, but it was nowhere to be found. Great, it was probably at Bea's house. Whatever, she'd text her later.

Mae unlocked the front door. It was still dark. Her parents were definitely still asleep. Mae walked upstairs to her room.

She took off her shoes and sat down on her bed. A lot had happened in the last couple of hours.

She joined the cult. That seemed to be the craziest thing that had happened that night. Except, maybe, for when she sacrificed someone.

She had ended someone's life early. She had killed that guy. Was it worth it? Should she have done it?

Her computer screen lit up and Mae turned to it. She had gotten a message from Gregg.

"hey dude"

Mae, distracted from her self doubt, began typing a response.

"hey. why are you up"

"well ive been texting bea"

"at like four am?"

"well youre awake"

"perhaps"

"well shes been texting me about what happened at the mine"

Crap. This is what that guy was talking about. Bea was already trying to stop her! Why couldn't she just let Mae do this?

"what do you mean?"

Mae had to pretend that Bea was making this up. That Bea was trying to make her look bad. That was the only way to protect herself.

"the cult, the mine, you joining the cult"

"you mean the murdercult of dads?"

"yeah"

"I didnt join them. they dont even still exist. they all died in the cave in"

"beas saying that the cults back and you went there earlier and joined them"

"what? whys she saying that?"

"because she doesnt like the idea of you being in a cult. i dont either"

"well good, cause im not in any cult"

"so what, beas lying?"

"i guess. cause no cult exists in possum springs anymore"

"idk she seemed pretty specific"

"look im not in any cult. im not even with bea anymore"

Mae had to protect herself from what Bea was doing, even if that meant making Bea look bad.

"really? so what happened then?"

Clearly Gregg already knew they had broken up. Mae paused to make up an alibi.

"i was hanging out at beas and i mentioned something about her dad and then she like had an outburst and kicked me out. She didnt even let me grab my phone before leaving"

"really? when was that?"

It seemed like what Mae was doing was maybe working. This had a chance.

"like around midnight"

"ok so why would bea be trying to make you look bad?"

"I dont know. to get some sort of revenge on me or something maybe"

"well ok. btw we were thinking of coming to visit in a couple of days"

Oh jeez. Mae had to make sure that he didn't visit. That could ruin everything, couldn't it?

Man, this cult thing was difficult.

"nows not really a good time"

"why"

"well were still trying to clean up from that tornado that came through, and things are probably gonna be really tense between me and bea"

"alright. angus is telling me to put my phone away though. night"

"night"

Mae closed the laptop. Fuck. How could she lie to her best friend so much? How could she try to convince him that Bea was trying to excommunicate her? What was wrong with her?

She laid down in her bed as a thought popped into her head. Mae needed to do that. It was the only way to protect the group. It sucked, but it was necessary.

Maybe it was necessary. Mae just hoped she wouldn't have to do any more lying. She closed her eyes and let herself fall asleep. This would all work itself out.


	3. A Rude Awakening

Ring. Bea's eyes shot open. Her phone was ringing. Wow, her head fucking hurt. She sat up and started searching for her phone. It was right next to her sideways solo cup. Oh yeah. The whiskey. Bea answered the phone.

"Hey," Bea mumbled. Jeez, she hadn't noticed how dry her mouth was until just now. She walked to the fridge to get some water.

"Hey!" Gregg shouted, surprising Bea.

Bea looked at the time. It was past two. Well, she clearly wasn't going to open the 'Ol Pickaxe.

"Oh, right, you said you wanted to call me?" Bea mentioned before taking a big gulp of water. Ugh. It was too cold.

"Yeah! Oh, you're on speakerphone, by the way," Gregg excitedly explained. Jeez, Bea had forgotten how much energy Gregg had.

"Hey…?" Bea said, not really knowing who was overhearing her. She took another sip of water.

"Hello," Angus said. Well duh, that made sense. It was Angus.

"So, uh, what's the plan exactly? Just try to kill the cult guys?" Gregg asked.

"I mean, I guess?" Bea responded. She took another sip of water before sealing the bottle and putting it away. She started to wander around the apartment.

"Well, I was thinking about that… even if you, me, Angus, and Germ had crossbows or something, we'd probably still be outgunned— They had a lot of guns last time we saw them," Gregg explained, his voice still having that scratchy, loud, goofy undertone, even though he was almost somber.

"Hmm… I guess we could try to resolve it peacefully?" Bea wondered. She had picked up the cup and thrown it away.

"Like simply reporting them to the police?" Angus wondered.

"Well, I was thinking about that, too. Remember how Mae talked about that one aunt of hers?" Gregg asked.

"Uh… Aunt Mallcop?" Bea thought.

"Yeah, well— shit. Cap'n, can you grab some napkins from the glovebox?" Gregg began.

"Oh, are you guys already driving over?" Bea asked, noticing Mae's phone.

"Yeah, can you please clean that up?" Gregg whispered, "Oh, yeah, we got in the car, maybe ten minutes ago?"

"Well, alright," Bea said. Bea looked at Mae's phone. There were a lot of messages. Bea unlocked it, trying to figure out what they were.

"Huh, kinda handsy there, aren't you? If that's what you wanna do, cap'n, then wait until we get to a hotel." Gregg laughed, causing Angus to do the same, "Sorry about that. But what I was saying is that Mae mentioned that she thought that Aunt Mallcop was in the cult a few times, remember?"

"Uh… yeah, maybe?" Bea thought. Jeez, what were those two doing? Each other?

And, Mae had a password on her texting app thing? Since when?

"Well, if she was, then we wouldn't be able to report them to the police. Mae's aunt could stop them. And, even then, the police probably believe us if we said a cult was sacrificing people in a hole in an old abandoned mine in the middle of the woods," Gregg explained.

"Aw, well, we can figure it out when you guys get here," Bea said. Jeez, Gregg was completely right. That didn't happen often.

"Alright." Gregg agreed, before plunging the call into a short silence, "Um… I talked to Mae last night."

So that's what that was.

"Really? Did you talk about the cult?" Bea asked.

"Uh, yeah. She gave me a completely different story though," Gregg explained.

"What, really? What did she even say? Did she just pretend that the cult didn't exist or something?" Bea questioned.

"Uh, I can't really check my texts while I'm both calling you and driving," Gregg said.

"So? You didn't remember what she said?" Bea asked.

"Uh… we're going into a tunnel. Gotta hang up," Gregg said, clearly trying to dodge the question.

"Gregg you can't just—" Bea began.

"Uh oh, we're crashing! I'm dying!" Gregg dramatized, before hanging up.

Bea pocketed her phone. Why didn't Gregg just tell her what Mae said? Ugh. Annoying.

Bea had realized during the call that no one had come into her apartment while she slept. It seemed that neither her dad nor Mae had come into the apartment while she had slept. That was kind of weird.

Bea clearly wasn't going to open the 'Ol Pickaxe, but she still had stuff she had to do. She was going to return Mae's phone. Maybe she could try to convince Mae to leave the cult. Maybe she could stop this simply like that. So, Bea changed out from her booze and smoke smelling clothes into a fresh, identical outfit, and put her shoes on. She grabbed Mae's phone and left the apartment.

It felt nice out, yet again. The sky was mostly cloudless, and the wind kept everything from being too hot. That probably wouldn't last for too long. As spring slowly transitioned into summer, everything would probably start to heat up.

Bea knocked on Mae's front door. Mae's mom answered.

"Hi, is Mae here?" Bea asked, trying to seem at least somewhat polite.

"Yes," Candy sternly responded.

"Alright, can I come in so that—" Bea began.

Candy chuckled, almost angered, "No you may not."

"Oh, uh, then could you give her this?" Bea asked, handing Candy the phone.

Candy grabbed it before saying, "I'm surprised you have the audacity to come here after what you did to Mae."

After Bea did what to Mae? What was she talking about?

"Excuse me?" Bea asked.

"After you broke up with Mae. After you kicked her out of your house. After you called her such horrible things." Candy continued, her tone becoming more and more fierce, "I'd prefer if you didn't come by this house anymore."

"What are you—" Bea started, before getting the door slammed in her face.

What the hell was that? What was she talking about? What had Mae told her mom? Was this something to worry about?

Bea began walking towards the Snack Falcon. She needed to talk to one of her friends, specifically one that wasn't having their crotch grabbed by their boyfriend. Germ would suffice. In fact, she would be rather surprised if he didn't fit those qualifications.


	4. Germ Warfare

"Hey," Bea said as she stepped into the Snack Falcon.

Germ didn't respond, however. He was seated on a folding chair, face down on the counter, asleep.

Bea chuckled before carefully walking up to Germ and asking, "Are you alright?"

Germ shot up, before noticing Bea. "Uh… hi," Germ faintly smiled.

"So, uh, what's going on with you?" Bea asked.

Germ yawned, "Some guys are doing construction work on the mine and it's _really_ fucking loud."

Oh great, another reason to talk about that cult. It seemed like that was the only thing she was allowed to think or talk about.

"Actually, uh, that construction stuff is really—" Bea began.

"That one cult you and Mae talked about a few times? Yeah, Mae's mentioned it a lot in the last few days. She came in yesterday and told me it was back before coming back in today and explaining to me that they weren't back. I've heard all about it," Germ nearly mumbled.

"...Mae came in earlier and told you the cult wasn't back?" Bea asked.

"Yeah. She went on this whole rant about what she did last night and about how it sucked and how you sucked or whatever— I wasn't listening, really," Germ explained.

"What do you mean? What did she say exactly?" Bea questioned. If this was what Bea thought it was…

"I don't know. She, like, mentioned that last night she went to go see if the cult was back or something and that she saw they weren't back, and then she—" Germ continued.

"What do you mean she said that the cult wasn't back?!" Bea asked.

What was Mae trying to do? Not only had she joined the cult she had been fearing for forever, but now she was denying the cult's existence even though she had spent days trying to prove it?! What was going on with her?

"...She just told me that she thought the cult was back, but she looked for them and saw that they weren't… or something like that. I can't really tell you much more than that. Again, I was barely paying attention," Germ said.

"That doesn't make sense! Just last night me and Mae went to the mine and we found that the cult was back! And she joined it!" Bea shouted.

"...Huh, that's kinda weird," Germ yawned.

"Okay, what else did she say?" Bea asked.

"Um, she said something about you breaking up with her while she was staying at your apartment or whatever," Germ said.

"Okay, that's also complete bullshit. I broke up with her, but at the mine after she joined the murdercult," Bea loudly explained.

"Huh, so they murder people?" Germ wondered.

"Yeah. I think they said they'd murdered, like, forty people or something last time we saw them! And that's why I broke up with Mae! Because there's no way I could be a serial killer's girlfriend!" Bea shouted.

"Eh, I'm sure Mae's serial killed someone before she joined that cult," Germ shrugged.

"That… that's not the point! She joined a group of insane conservatives that murder people! Only because she thinks it'll fix all of her problems!" Bea continued.

"Well, will it?" Germ asked.

"No! It won't!" Bea exclaimed.

"...Weird," Germ mumbled.

"I… will you be here at the Snack Falcon for the next few days?" Bea asked.

"Yeah? I'll be around here for longer than that, though," Germ said.

"Will you be free the next few days?" Bea asked.

Germ quickly sat up straight, blushing, "Are you asking me on a date?"

Bea also began to turn red, "What? Shit— no. I just meant— Gregg and Angus are coming back in a couple days to deal with this cult stuff, and I was wondering if you'd be free so that you could come and help or whatever."

"Oh, thank god. I didn't wanna have to let you down," Germ sighed.

"What? Am I not good enough?" Bea tried to joke.

"Sorry to say, but you're not really the type of person I'm looking for," Germ continued.

"Anyways, are you free the next couple of days?" Bea asked again.

"Yeah, I'm not doing anything important," Germ said.

"Alright, well, you might need to help take down the cult in the next few days," Bea explained.

"Cool," Germ said.

"...Did Mae mention anything else about last night?" Bea wondered.

"Other than how the cult isn't back or how you're a jerk who broke up with her? Naw, I don't think so," Germ said.

"Huh, alright." Bea sighed, "Well, now that I think about it, I've kinda got things I need to do."

"Alright. See ya," Germ tiredly waved, his head slumping back into his other hand.

"Bye," Bea said, walking back out into town.

Jeez. Mae was trying to sabotage Bea or something. She was trying to get people to think that Bea was crazy. It explained why Gregg heard a different story from Mae. It explained why Mae's mom slammed the door in her face. It showed that this wasn't going to be as easy as Bea though it was.

But, Bea was going to try. And, if she was going to take down this cult, she was going to need an army. An army that could convince Mae to fight with them. She was going to need to get as many of Mae's friends as she could.

But first, she was going to need to know who those people actually were. She began texting Gregg. He would probably know.

" _hey gregg_ "

Bea began walking towards the Ol' Pickaxe.

" _this is angus. gregg is driving._ "

" _do either of you know some of maes friends? like some that live in possum springs?_ "

" _gregg says that there was one mouse girl mae talked about._ "

" _okay whats her name and where would she be?_ "

" _gregg says she's on one of the roofs._ "

" _anyone else?_ "

" _there was that one bear girl._ "

" _oh i actually know her. thanks for the help_ "

" _what's this actually for?_ "

" _im gonna try to gather up people to help with the cult_ "

" _alright._ "

Bea pocketed her phone. That wasn't many people, but she'd talk to them anyway. She'd get them on their side and then they'd figure this out. Maybe.


	5. A Battle of Words

Bea had decided she definitely wasn't going to walk along the powerlines to get onto any of the roofs. She had to find a different way up, which she managed to do without dying. It was impressive, really.

Bea carefully walked along the roofs, looking around for the aforementioned mouse girl. What was her name again? Lily? Lexi? Lola? It started with an 'L', right? Whatever, she'd find it out soon.

Luckily, soon came sooner than Bea thought. Bea spotted a girl who fit the description ahead. She walked over to her.

"Hey, you're friends with Mae, right?" Bea asked as she teetered over to the mouse girl.

The girl looked over towards Bea. Jeez, she was kinda young. She was clearly still a teenager.

"Yeah," the girl spoke.

"Cool. What's your name?" Bea asked as she carefully sat down next to the girl.

"...Lori," she answered. She seemed quiet and nervous, yet she stared at Bea as though she was a lifelong rival.

"Alright, cool. Well, I'm not sure if you know me, but—" Bea began.

"I know you well enough," Lori grumbled. She didn't seem too pleased with Bea. This probably wasn't going to be as easy as Bea expected it to be, if what she thought was going on was going on.

"Uh, well, I wanted to talk to you about Mae. She's, uh, done some pretty crazy stuff recently—" Bea started, again.

"Oh really?" Lori said with clearly fake interest.

"Uh, yeah, and so I was wondering if you could help me and some of Mae's other friends sort all of this out," Bea explained.

"All of what out?" Lori asked.

"Well, Mae's actually joined a, um, cult—" Bea continued.

What Bea said clearly angered Lori. "Oh really now? A cult? She didn't instead get yelled at by some jerk named Bea who broke with up her and called her a bitch?" Lori unhappily asked, as her breathing, despite having become shallow and quick, managed to stay quiet.

So, Mae had spouted the same lies to her as she had Germ and Gregg. Great. Well, unless some miracle happened, Lori wasn't going to be believing what Bea had to say.

"I didn't call her a bitch and I didn't yell at her," Bea spoke through clenched teeth.

"Well you broke up with her, didn't you? Besides, why should I listen to you?" Lori asked, her breathing starting to get louder, as she tried less and less to quiet it.

"Look, I know it sounds completely insane, but it's true. A cult of murdering idiots—" Bea began.

"I know about the cult and I know how you feel about supposed crazy people! Mae told me everything!" Lori shouted, clearly beginning to hyperventilate.

Fuck. How was Mae so good at lying? So good at taking the truth and mixing it into her lies? She couldn't convince Lori of shit.

"Look, Lori, you're not understanding that—" Bea again began.

"I understand enough— you were a dick to Mae and then you broke up with her, and now you're trying to make her look bad and—" Lori shouted, her breathing becoming as shallow and quick as it could. She seemed to be gasping for air. So much so that she was unable to speak.

"Hey, are you alright?" Bea asked, concerned.

"I'm fine. Just go away," Lori said in between her gasps.

Bea felt bad for the poor girl. She seemed to be straight up suffocating. Maybe she had asthma? Or maybe she was just a _really_ nervous person. Well, the least Bea could do was honor her request. Bea stood up and slowly made her way back to ground.

Lori clearly wasn't going to be swayed by Bea; she believed Mae and her lies too much. Maybe Selmers would be a better choice. Maybe she hadn't been lied to.

"Hey," Bea waved, walking up to Selmers.

"Oh, hey," Selmers responded.

"Uh, so, I kinda need to talk about Mae," Bea started.

"Um, okay," Selmers said.

"Well, Mae's actually joined a, uh, cult. It's a terrible group which murders people in the hope that they can fix the town. And, Mae might've told you that I'm lying, and that I actually broke up with her after yelling at her. That's not true. So, if you could, can you maybe help me and a couple of Mae's other friends fix all this?" Bea explained.

"Uh… I'm kinda busy," Selmers said.

"We're gonna try to stop the cult two days from now, actually," Bea continued.

"Um… I'll be busy then, too," Selmers nervously said.

"Really? This isn't because you don't trust me or something?" Bea asked.

"No, sorry. Just… really busy," Selmers explained, continuing to sit around.

"Uh, alright then." Bea said, starting to walk back to her apartment, "Bye."

"Bye," Selmers waved.

It was obvious— Selmers had been lied to as well. Why was Mae doing this? She was lying to everyone either of them knew, telling them that Bea was a jerk who deserves to be ridiculed. It was terrible. She didn't even feel safe walking through town. Someone was just gonna start yelling at her about how terrible she was. Perhaps she deserved it.

Bea unlocked the door to her apartment. Everything inside was still untouched; her dad still hadn't come back home. It was… disconcerting.

Bea sat down on her couch. How could Mae say that what she was doing was going to help Bea? All she'd done so far was lie to everyone and make it seem like Bea was a huge jerk. This wasn't helping anyone. Mae had lied her, too.

Bea just wanted this to stop. For life to go back to the boring normal shit. Constantly working at the Ol' Pickaxe, following the same schedule every day.

Maybe though, just maybe, she could convince Mae to stop without anyone else's help. She pulled out her phone.

" _mae you need to stop lying to everyone. I know youve been lying to people telling them that im a huge jerk and you need to stop. The only thing im trying to do is help you. I know that none of this is going to work out for you. I still love you mae and i just wanna help you. Please stop this_ "

Bea had tapped the message as fast as she could, her words meaning exactly what Bea felt. She had typed a surprisingly honest and heartfelt message.

But, even after Bea put down her phone and found something on TV to distract herself with, Mae hadn't responded. She probably wasn't going to. It was fruitless.

Nighttime eventually came around, and Bea tried to go to sleep. It was hard to do, knowing that the cult was so close. Knowing that the cult was so terrible, yet so close. It was a while before Bea fell asleep.


	6. Things Working Out

Bea shot up in a cold sweat. She must've had a nightmare, though she couldn't remember what is was. The only thing that popped into her head was the mine. Of course it was.

Ring. Or perhaps she woke up because her phone was ringing. That also made sense.

"Hey," Bea said, looking over to the clock. It was about nine.

"Ooh, look who finally picked up," Gregg teased on the other end.

"Oh, sorry, did you call before?" Bea asked, trying to wake up.

"Yeah, it's fine." Gregg responded, "I wanted to call to say that we're probably gonna make it to Possum Springs this afternoon."

Bea slowly stood up, hearing her joints pop, "Really? I thought you said it was gonna take two days?"

"Well, Mae texted last night and told us things were getting more urgent over there, so we decided to not stop at a hotel and just keep going. Me and Angus just took shifts driving overnight. It was also good cause we didn't have to pay for a hotel," Gregg yawned.

"Gregg also apparently drove at nearly a hundred miles per hour while I was sleeping!" Angus said.

"You two on the interstate?" Bea asked.

"Yeah," Gregg answered.

"Well then that's fine," Bea said, walking into the living room.

"No, it's not! The speed limit's seventy," Angus explained.

"Well anyway, what do you mean Mae texted you saying things were 'getting more urgent?'" Bea asked.

"She said that you were lying to everyone in town trying to ruin her," Gregg said.

"What? I'm not doing that! If anything she's doing that to me!" Bea shouted.

"Okay," Gregg yawned.

"...You don't believe her, do you?" Bea questioned.

"Look, I only called to let you know that we're gonna be there about two or three this afternoon," Gregg responded.

"Do you actually believe her?" Bea continued.

Gregg sighed, "I believe that something is going on over there. I don't believe either of you more than the other because both of your stories sound fucking insane. We're just gonna come and try to help fix whatever's happening, okay? It sounds insane to say that you suddenly broke up with Mae and are now actively trying to ruin her life, but so does the idea that the cult is back and Mae joined it! I don't know which of you is lying but I'm gonna try to help, okay?"

Bea considered what Gregg had said, "Okay."

"Alright. We'll be there this afternoon, okay?" Gregg asked.

"Yeah, alright," Bea acknowledged.

"Kay, bye!" Gregg sang.

"See ya," Bea said before Gregg hung up.

So, Mae would text Gregg but not her? Not like it really mattered too much, Mae would probably just lie to her, too. She was clearly good at that.

Bea looked over to the counter, which had a note on it. Confused, she picked it up and began reading.

"Bea, this is your dad. I've been staying at a hotel these past few nights cause I know things would be awkward and tense if I stayed there at the apartment. I'm fine though. And, in case you were wondering, Mae's fine too. She's alive and well. Mae is lying about you though. She's simply doing that because she's trying to protect our group. I'm sorry it makes you look so bad, but she's doing what she has to. I'll see you later, after all this has settled down."

So her dad finally actually stopped by the apartment, and it was simply to let Bea know that he was wasting his money staying in a hotel. And to let her know that Mae "had" to lie about her and make her look like the biggest jerk in town. Great.

Maybe it was for the best, though, having him stay somewhere else. At least she didn't have to stay with a murderer. Instead she was trying to stop someone from becoming one.

Mae wasn't a murderer, right? She hadn't murdered anyone yet. Oh jeez, what if she had murdered someone already? Who would she have even murdered? Germ? Oh god, what if they had killed Germ overnight? Bea had to know. Besides, she had to tell Germ, if he was still alive, to meet up with her and Gregg and Angus today, as opposed to tomorrow.

Bea got ready to leave the house. She followed her typical morning routine, which she hadn't followed the last few days amid the chaos involving the cult. It was surprisingly nice to get back to schedule.

It was another nice day out. Another. That couldn't last for long, could it? After all of these perfect days, a thunderstorm was bound to come eventually, right?

Bea walked into the Snack Falcon, finding that Germ was, indeed, in there. It was almost surprising though. Did he not work during a specific part of the day? Was he always at the Snack Falcon? Maybe the construction wasn't the one to blame here.

"Hey Germ," Bea said to a, surprisingly, awake Germ.

"'Sup," Germ waved.

"So, I came in to let you know that Angus and Gregg are actually gonna be here today. So, uh, we're gonna end up having our meeting thing today," Bea mentioned.

"Oh, so you're asking me out today?" Germ taunted.

"Hah, you wish," Bea chuckled.

Germ laughed, "No, actually. I wouldn't."

"Well, ouch." Bea said, "Anyway, can you meet up with us at, like, two?"

"Sure. Where?" Germ asked.

"Uh… just go to the diner," Bea decided.

"Alright. Is that all you had to say?" Germ wondered.

"Yeah, pretty much. Just wanted to make sure you could meet up later," Bea responded.

"Cool, see ya," Germ yawned.

"Bye," Bea said, leaving the store.

Well that was simple. And now in just a few hours they were going to work out a solution to this problem. That was probably the best news in days. This would all work out.

But, a few hours away was still, well, a few hours away, so Bea would have to wait it out. Her apartment would fit the bill well enough.


	7. A Lot of Explaining

It was about ten to two when Bea finally left her apartment. And, the diner itself was, for the Clik Clak Diner, rather crowded, especially considering the fact that it was two o'clock. But regardless, Bea took a seat.

So, was this even worth the effort? Were they going to be able to fix this? She had been hoping they would, but now that she thought about it, it was unrealistically optimistic. There were easily twice, if not thrice as many cultists as them. And on top of that, Bea was pretty sure they all had guns. And if it turned to violence, there would be no way Bea could fight Mae. She just couldn't. It would be like if Bea—

"Hey, sorry I'm late," Germ waved as he sat down next to Bea. Bea checked the time. It was a minute past two.

"Oh, hey," Bea said, shaking her thoughts away.

"So… what're we doing?" Germ asked.

"That's what we're gonna try to figure out here," Bea explained, before taking a sip of her water.

"Okay, but what about right now? Gregg and Angus aren't here," Germ said.

"Right now we're waiting for them," Bea explained.

"Right." Germ slowly nodded, his focus shifting elsewhere in the diner, "So can you explain to me what's actually going on?"

"We explained the cult, right?" Bea asked.

"I think so. They kill people cause they think it fixes the town or something, right?" Germ thought.

"Yeah. Well we thought they died when the mine caved in, or when you blew it up. They didn't. So, after a while, they came back to the mine and started digging out the rubble, which is what has been keeping you up at night. And then—" Bea explained.

"They're the ones keeping me awake?" Germ shouted, attracting the attention of a few nearby people.

"Uh, yeah," Bea nodded, pulling out her phone to check a text.

"hey we're coming up to town now. where should we go?"

"head to the diner"

Bea put away her phone, looking back at Germ.

"We need to kill these assholes." Germ insisted, "I am so tired, and I haven't gotten enough sleep in forever— I'm all for destroying this cult."

"That's where it gets complicated though. Mae's in it," Bea said.

"Has she been working with the construction stuff?" Germ asked, completely solemn.

"Maybe? I'd doubt it," Bea thought.

"We need to blow up the mine. Again." Germ continued, beginning to stand up, "I can go get some more dynamite, and then we can just—"

"Bea!" Gregg shouted, walking up to the table.

"Took you long enough," Bea said.

"Hey! We skipped our scenic two star hotel for this!" Gregg pouted as he sat down, Angus following.

"I'm just teasing—" Bea began.

"Since when have you had humor?" Gregg asked.

"Since Mae forced me to have some." Bea dryly joked, "But anyway, how was the drive?"

"Uh, it was fine." Gregg responded, "So what's going on?"

"You mean, like, with the cult and Mae and stuff?" Bea asked.

"Duh," Gregg said.

"Well, uh, the murdercult never went away, for one. They all ended up surviving. And then they went back into the mine not too long ago, before me and Mae went to go see what was going on. Then when we met the cult, one of the cultists invited us to join. And that cultist turned out to be my dad, who was able to get Mae to join. And then we ended up breaking up because of the whole cult thing, and now Mae's lying to everyone, including you three, to make me look bad. So, we need to come up with a way to get Mae out of the cult and then destroy it… Any ideas?" Bea quickly explained.

"...That's a lot of information," Angus said.

"And, uh, Bea, I don't want it to seem like I don't trust you about this, but Mae's telling a completely different story and it's hard to tell who's lying. So, do you have any sort of proof or anything? Like a framed picture of Mae sacrificing someone?" Gregg admitted.

Well, that wasn't something Bea really had. She could try to call her dad and—

The note. Bea still had the note. She had folded it up and put it in her pocket. That would prove her innocent.

Bea hastily began to dig through her pocket, looking for the note. It didn't take long before she felt the paper in her fingers. She pulled it out, unfolded it, and gave it to Gregg.

Gregg silently mouthed the words on the paper as he read it, and Angus leaned over to read it as well. It was easy to tell when the fox had gotten to the part about Mae and the cult, as his eyes widened. When he finished he looked back up at Bea, stunned.

"...So, you're not lying about this, huh?" Gregg thought.

"I already told you I wasn't, but no, I'm not lying," Bea responded.

"But why would Mae lie to us like that? She completely made up everything! She didn't even bother to try and tell the truth!" Gregg said, his voice getting much, much louder with every sentence. A few people nearby looked over at the group, either angry or startled.

"I don't know. It must have something to do with the cult or something, though," Bea explained.

"So then what do we do? If she's brainwashed or whatever, then there's no way we can get her out of the cult!" Gregg exclaimed, a couple of people staring at him.

"Well first off, be a little bit quieter." Bea said, "Second, I don't really think she's brainwashed."

"Then how do you explain what she's doing?" Gregg forcefully whispered.

Bea didn't actually have an answer to that. She couldn't be brainwashed, but then, what else could she be? She wouldn't have done all of this simply because the cult told her to, right?

"Uh… look, that's not the point. The point is that we need to try to get Mae out of the cult. Does anyone have any ideas?" Bea again asked.

Germ spoke up, "Well I think that we should get some more dynamite, and then we just go and—"

"We're not blowing up the mine again," Bea said.

"...What if we go undercover? Like, we get some robes and then we go in there tonight wearing them and pretend to be them? Then, once we're in there, we burst out of our disguises and shock everyone.Then—" Gregg excitedly began.

"That's also not the best idea." Bea interrupted, "...Maybe we should just… go.Like, Mae's probably got some level of authority, and she wouldn't let the cult kill us, so maybe if we just go, we can walk in, talk to Mae and convince her to work against the cult, and then we leave to come with an actual plan. Besides, the cult'll probably be too busy sacrificing someone to notice us."

"Why can't we just go to Mae's house to do that?" Angus asked.

"Because Mae's lied about me to her mom and now her parents hate me," Bea explained.

"Why can't one of us just go do that, then?" Gregg questioned, gesturing to himself and Angus.

"Because Mae's probably lied about you two as well," Bea answered, pessimistically.

"...Alright," Gregg said.

"So, does that plan work?" Bea asked.

"Yeah, but why'd you ask us what we thought when you were just gonna come up with your own plan?" Germ wondered.

"Because I thought that you might have good ideas. You didn't, but I thought that you could've," Bea explained.

"Cool," Germ said.

"Alright then, if that's all settled, where are we gonna stay until tonight?" Angus asked.

"I guess my apartment," Bea thought.

"Okay, let's go then!" Gregg said, becoming, once again, energetic.

Gregg quickly stood up, before being followed by the other three. Bea left a dollar on the table. She hadn't ordered any food, and the only thing she had gotten was a water, but still.

The four then left the diner, their destination being Bea's apartment. This would all culminate tonight, wouldn't it? Bea just hoped it ended with Mae coming with the group.


	8. Reaping the Benefits

Mae lounged around on her bed, keeping herself occupied with her phone. In just a few hours she would head over to the mine for whatever meeting the group had planned. Mae just hoped there wouldn't be any sacrificing. She didn't like doing that.

Earlier in the day Mae had gone around town and talked with her friends. And she had managed to get a job at the taco place after a spot opened up. This _was_ all working out. She had gotten a job and she hadn't had a single nightmare or headache since she joined the group. It was almost worth celebrating.

"Mae? Are you up here?" someone asked, heading up the stairs to Mae's room.

"Uh, yeah. Hi," Mae waved as the someone made it up. It was Aunt Mall-cop, of all people.

"Oh, good. I've got to talk to you," Aunt Molly explained.

Mae sat up, putting down her phone, "Um, alright."

Aunt Molly sat on Mae's bed. She seemed to be putting on a fake smile.

"So, uh, you're gonna need to come to mine earlier than usual. Like at eight," she said.

Mae checked the time. It was a little after seven-thirty. But there was a bigger issue here. Was Aunt Molly part of the group?

"...Are you…?" Mae asked.

"Yeah, actually," Aunt Molly admitted, almost nonchalantly.

"Huh," Mae said.

"'Huh' what?" Aunt Molly questioned.

"Well, I kinda always thought you were in it. I guess I was right." Mae explained.

"Hmm, well maybe I should try harder to keep it a secret," Aunt Molly chuckled.

Mae asked, "Why do I need to be at the mine so early? It's not even dark out."

"Apparently there's some stuff going on in town or something, and they wanna hold a meeting to resolve it, or something. I don't really know, I'm just the messenger," Aunt Molly explained.

Mae nodded. What kinda "stuff" could be going on in town? Maybe Mae had done something wrong. Aw jeez, Mae hoped she hadn't done anything wrong.

It seemed that with how long it would take to get the the mine, it made sense just to leave then. Aunt Molly apparently had the same idea, as the both of them stood up and began to walk downstairs and out the door. But not before waving bye to Mae's mom, of course.

The two didn't really say much else on their brisk walk to the mine, which was nice, because it let Mae bask in the yellows and oranges of the setting sun. It often didn't look as vibrant, so it was actually pretty great that Mae was outside to observe it.

Bea sat on a stool in her apartment, talking to Germ and sometimes Gregg and Angus. They were waiting until it was dark out before leaving. Or at least, Bea and Germ were, Gregg and Angus seemed only to be flirting on her couch.

"It seems dark enough out for it to be considered night now," Germ said.

"You've said that at least ten times, Germ," Bea said, breathing a puff of smoke from her stub of a cigarette. She put out the remnants in a nearby ashtray.

"But it really does seem like it now. The sun's already set," Germ blankly protested.

Bea checked the time. It was almost eight-thirty. Maybe Germ was right.

Bea sighed, standing up, "Alright, sure. Let's go."

"Oh, are we going?" Gregg asked.

"Yeah," Bea nodded.

It was a nice night out, though it would probably rain the next day. It just seemed like it had to, with how little rain they had gotten, and how cloudy it was.

The streets were pretty much empty, with no cars on the road except the ones that were parked. In fact, the whole town seemed to be, not exactly dead, but rather holding its breath. Sort of like the quiet before the storm. Bea hoped there wouldn't be a storm, but it was bound to rain eventually, wasn't it?

None of them had brought weapons, except for Gregg, who had his knife in his pocket. It probably wouldn't be too useful for protecting themselves, since the entire cult had rifles, but the feeling of "sorta protected" was nice. None of them had brought a flashlight, either. Bea had her phone's flashlight, but it still seemed like they should have nabbed an actual flashlight.

Bea had practically memorized the path to the mine. She had gone there, what, three times? Or would _this_ be the third time? Bea couldn't even remember.

"So, you're sure that they won't attack us, simply because Mae won't let them?" Angus asked, breaking the silence. They were only a couple minutes away from the mine's entrance.

"Yeah, I've talked to some of these people and they wouldn't do it. Besides, my dad's there. He wouldn't let them attack me." Bea explained, "I guess you're on your own, though."

Gregg chuckled, "Thanks for the comforting."

"I aim to please," Bea added, continuing to stare ahead.

The entrance to mine was the same as it was before, dark and damp. But something seemed… off. It was almost too quiet. One of the cultists should have been by the opening, or something like that.

The four stepped into the elevator, ready to descend into what could, just maybe, be their death. The elevator's light flickers. And then again.

This seems all too familiar. Bea's definitely felt this before. She tries to get her phone out and shine the light. She tries to tell everyone to be careful. She tries to get Gregg to pull out his knife.

The light goes out. Everything is silent. Gregg opens his mouth to speak. The light flickers back on. Two cultists stand in front of the elevator, bats in their hands.

Gregg reaches into his pocket. Angus raises his fists. Germ backs behind Bea who tries to pull out her phone. The light goes off again, and Bea hears someone get hit by the bat, followed by the sound of them falling to the ground. And then again. The light flickers back on, just for a split second. Gregg and Angus are on the ground. The light goes out. Bea hears air swoosh by as one of the cultists raises the bat. Bea doesn't hear anything after the bat collides with her skull. She goes unconscious and hits the floor, following her friends.

After Germ also goes down, the assault ends. The light slowly flickers back on. The cultists step over the unconscious four, being careful not to slip on the small blood puddle slowly coalescing on the ground. They send the elevator down. All four of Mae's friends unwillingly follow.


	9. Him

Mae had been waiting in the mine for way too long. It had probably been almost an hour. She had been leaning against the wall, trying to get service on her phone for almost an hour. She had been quietly ignored whenever she spoke for almost an hour. The whole atmosphere was rather eerie. Even Aunt Mall-cop was silent. What was supposed to be going on?

She had waited for so long and yet still hadn't even seen Bea's dad or been told what was going on. It was stressful and creepy and Mae wanted the wait to end.

As Mae's phone battery ticked town to five percent, she could hear the sound of the elevator echo down the mine's tunnels. Maybe she _would_ finally be done waiting.

Some of the cultists began whispering to each other. Mae tried to hear what they were saying to no avail. It was really no less comforting than the silence.

"We got 'em," one of the cultists shouted, coming down the tunnel. Oh jeez, maybe they were going to sacrifice someone.

"Great, bring them in here," another, unrecognizable cultist responded.

Mae really didn't want to sacrifice anyone today. She hated doing it before and would hate doing it now. Sure, it was necessary, but it was also unpleasant.

Ugh. If just _one_ person told her what was going on, she wouldn't be so anxious! Aunt Mall-cop could've just said they were waiting. Or maybe Bea's dad could've just said they were going to sacrifice someone. It wasn't that hard!

Mae pocketed her dying phone, ready for something to actually happen. And, if she squinted, she could see what that something was.

Two shadowed, robed men walked into the sort-of room containing the hole. Behind them they dragged a few unconcious people. They dropped bats on the ground, dropping the people. Jeez, there must have been at least three of them. Last time they just sacrificed one.

"Alright, Mae, this is your last job for a long time. After you do this, all of his benefits will come your way," one of the cultists explained, turning towards the girl. Huh. His voice sounded familiar. It was urgent and authoritative-like.

Also, what did that mean? One, it was excessively vague and unnecessarily cloudy. Two, what did he mean _"will_ come your way"? Did they not already come Mae's way? Was the job opening Mae got _not_ a benefit?

"Uh… alright. Why are we sacrificing four people now, though?" Mae asked, concerned. She couldn't even see who they were in the dark. Why didn't they have that lantern or whatever out?

"...Wait. What're you tryin' to do?" a different cultist seemingly nervous, questioned.

"Me? I'm not trying to—" Mae started.

"No, not you. Everyone. All of ya! Why is my boy lying on the ground unconscious? Didn't we already agree that my son was off limits? Stalking him was enough!" the cultist shouted.

Mae looked down at the unconscious people. She couldn't see their faces. She pulled out her phone and shined its flashlight. She could see their faces.

Lying on the ground was a pile of her closest friends. Bea. Gregg. Angus. Germ. They all lied on the ground with bruises and blood on their head. They were bleeding. They were unconscious. They were going to be sacrificed.

"What… what are you guys trying to do?" Aunt Mall-cop asked, angry, seeing Mae's friends on the ground.

"I thought you guys said you were gonna stop at forgin' letters! Why's my daughter here on the ground like this?" Bea's dad shouted.

"We did what we wanted to. We managed to lure all four of the last witnesses of our sacrificing to the mine. We kept him and ourselves safe," the cultist said.

What was going on? What was going on?! Why were her friends about to be killed?

"Hey… what… what are you talking about? Why did you knock my friends unconscious? Why are you going to kill them?" Mae asked, her voice progressively getting less distant and more angry as she spoke.

The cultist who spoke about benefits and witnesses just a minute ago simply stood there. He didn't move. Everything stayed silent and unmoving for a moment. Then Bea's dad took a couple steps toward the benefits cultist.

"Look, I don't know what you think you're doing, but—" he began.

"Grab him," the benefits cultist blankly directed. And, just as he instructed, two other cultists grabbed Bea's dad, holding him back.

"What are you going to do to them?" Germ's dad, Mae assumed, questioned, "Why did you not tell us about this?!"

"Grab him, too. Grab all of them," the benefits cultist said. And again, a few cultists stepped out from the small crowd and grabbed Germ's dad and Aunt Mall-cop.

The room went silent, yet again. Mae couldn't speak.

"Mae," the cultist started, "you need to sacrifice these four."

Mae looked over to Bea's dad. He looked unbearably nervous. And afraid. Mae kind of felt the same.

"But… I can't sacrifice these people. They're my friends," Mae wanted to snap back. She wanted to stop sounding so weak and vulnerable. She wanted to yell at this cultist and tell him that they couldn't fuck with her friends. But she didn't want to know what would happen if she did.

"We know that," the cultist said.

"I sure as hell didn't know that!" Bea's dad shouted. The benefits cultist ignored him.

These were their children. They were going to throw their children in this hole. That couldn't happen. Mae couldn't even begin to feel the grief Casey's parents felt after he went missing. Mae wouldn't even be able to comprehend the grief Bea's dad and Germ's dad would feel if their children were killed. To know that you, in part, helped that happen. To know that they're at the bottom of a hole. To know exactly what happened to them in the most gruesome of ways. Mae felt terrible just thinking about it. Why did Mae ever agree to sacrifice anyone?

"I can't do that. I can't kill my friends. Even if that means I'll keeping having these nightmares and headaches and everything," Mae explained, standing her ground.

"...It _will_ mean keeping those nightmares. His benefits only go to those worthy them. He hasn't even granted them to you. Why do you think you got that job at that taco place? Not because you were given his gift. Because you killed the person who had that job," the benefits cultist shouted, backing Mae into a corner. She slipped on a small puddle of blood her friends had bled. She scooted back, still on the ground.

"All these nightmares and migraines and everything— he gives 'em to who he thinks is worthy of serving him. It's a sign. It's no curse. If anything, it's a blessing. You get to serve your magnificent god. Sure, you might be killing the town. Your friends might cry your name out as they tumble down the hole. But, you get everything you ever deserved. You succeed. You win. And to win you must do everything, _everything_ he wants. You must keep him fed. You must not discriminate the sacrifices. Kill anyone you need to," the cultist yelled, forcing Mae further back into the corner. Mae's phone died, the light that was illuminating the room had gone out.

"This isn't some easy ticket to glory. Despite what we told you, wealth won't easily come your way. You have to make it come your way. You have to do everything you can to make it come your way. It's a brutal game, but if you serve him well enough, you win. And his instructions are to kill these four people. He wants no witnesses and he will get what he wanted!" he yelled, taking his hood off. He was a monster. He was clearly a goat, but he had somehow made his entire face black, clearly unnaturally. He had maybe burned his face and then rolled around in coal. It wasn't clear. But it was certainly threatening and extremely not normal, whatever he had done.

"You must serve his requests! Do what he wants or else I will!" he shouted.

"Stop! Please!" Bea's dad pleaded.

The goat turned around and said, "Throw them in! Throw all three of them in! They're traitors to him! They're blasphemers!"

The cultists which had been holding on the Aunt Mall-cop and Germ and Bea's dad started to push them towards the hole.

"Wait! Stop! Why are you doing this?!" Aunt Mall-cop screamed.

Mae felt powerless. She could even _feel_ everything melting away into shapes, its detail fading away, even in as dark as an environment as Mae was in. She felt her breathing get shallower. Mae felt something she had felt before. She was going to die down here. But… just maybe… her friends wouldn't.

Mae reached over and grabbed the baseball bat one of the cultists had dropped. Just like old times, huh? Red shapes and baseball bats. How quaint.

Mae leaped up off the ground, being surprisingly nimble despite her physical and mental state. She smashed the bat into the goat's face, sending him onto the ground. Maybe. Mae was starting to lose all detail. The shapes continued to get more granular. All the detail was fading away quickly, and the darkness was _not_ helping.

She ran over to where her aunt was. She swung the bat around. It wasn't clear who she hit. Mae couldn't see. She was blinder than anyone else down there.

Mae kept swinging. She could feel the powerful vibrations of bat to person contact rumbling through the bat. It was a reassuring feeling, almost.

Mae could hear disgusting cracking sounds and fleshy beating. She could hear gunfire. She could hear screaming. She had no idea who was doing any of that, but it was really beyond Mae's control at that point. She kept swinging regardless.

It felt like hours of swinging before Mae started to get a headache. People were clearly still up and about, but she knew she wouldn't be in a few moments. Everything ceased to be for a brief moment, and she collapsed, hoping that she had done something good. Maybe her friends would survive. Maybe her aunt would survive. Maybe Mae wouldn't. But what Mae knew for sure, was that there was no way the cult would survive. And if that meant Mae had to die, then maybe that was okay.

Mae's eyes closed. And whether she was bleeding or not, she wouldn't be able to tell. Whether she was dying or not, she wouldn't be able to tell. Whether she had succeeded or not, she wouldn't be able to tell.


	10. Recuperation

There he was, the black goat. And not the black goat cultist guy. That guy was just unsettling. But this one was powerful and uncaring. Well, duh. He got plenty of people, including herself, to kill dozens. Terrible. Why did she do that? Why didn't she just refuse and bash the cultists in the face with— oh yeah, she _did_ do that. That was probably why she was having another… nightmare? Was this a nightmare or was she dying or something?

Mae knew one thing for sure though, this wasn't the last time she would see god. She may have possibly killed the cult or herself, but she would still see this same powerful figure again. Maybe it was like a souvenir for the terrible shit she had seen and done. A fun existential gift.

Well, Mae would live. Unless she was dying right now. But if she wasn't, she'd live. The cult probably wouldn't come back, if she had destroyed it, so Possum Springs would be safe. Unless she had failed and her friends had been killed. Well, Mae hoped for the best, despite the inky void engulfing her. Rather a change of heart though, wasn't it?

Mae's eyes shot open. Oh. She wasn't dead. Well, that was a good start.

Mae sat up. She had two observations. One, she was in goddamn pain. Mae cringed at the pain and lied back down. Two, it was dark, and she was lying on something soft. Where was she? It didn't smell like blood, so it probably wasn't the mine.

Mae slowly sat up, trying extremely carefully to not hurt herself anymore. Ah, wait, she was on a couch. Okay, that sort of made sense; that was the something soft she was lying on.

Mae was trying to piece everything together. It didn't help that she had dissociated right before she went unconscious. Just about anything could've happened in that dark, polygonal hole in the ground.

Mae attempted to stand up. She was successful, but yet again felt a stabbing pain in her leg. She looked down, but could only see her legs, nothing special. Ugh. She'd see what happened when she wasn't in the dark. Besides, currently she was trying to figure out where she was.

Mae slowly limped off of the couch, leaving the room through a door in the corner of the room. It was clearly someone's house she was in. But where were her friends? Or her aunt? Or the cultists for that matter?

Mae limped around in the house for a moment before stumbling into a living room area. A kitchen was right next to it. Duh. What house didn't have a kitchen connected to a living room? She made her way over to the kitchen.

This wasn't really what Mae was expecting to do after she woke up. She was expecting to have to deal with a couple dozen dead cultists or something.

"Oh, you're awake."

Mae turned to look at the voice. Aunt Molly stood in the kitchen.

"Uh, yeah. Hi," Mae waved.

Aunt Molly halfheartedly chuckled, "Rather nonchalant, huh?"

Mae walked over to the counter she was standing next to. Mae looked down and though for a second.

"What happened?" Mae asked, looking back up.

The room was silent for a moment. Mae looked around. The room was dimly lit by trace amounts of orangey sunlight. The sun must have been rising.

Aunt Molly sighed and picked up a cup of coffee sitting on the counter, "A lot of terrible stuff happened, Mae. All of it was terrible."

She took a sip of her coffee and set it back down. She seemed rather stressed and unhappy.

"Well, to start, we were all tricked. The cultists deceived us. You. Me. Mr. Warton." she began, before sighing, "Mr. Santello."

Mad looked around the kitchen again. It seemed sort of familiar. Aunt Molly took another sip of her coffee.

"They came up with a plan to get rid of the last four non-cultists who knew about us: your friends. One of them even thought that the god himself _'proclaimed'_ that it had to be done." Molly again halfheartedly chuckled, "Sickos."

"...Was that why they wanted me to sacrifice my friends?" Mae asked.

"Yeah. They purposefully kept me and Mr. Warton and Mr. Santello in the dark. They told you to lie to everyone you knew about them. They forged a letter in Mr. Santello's name and gave it to his daughter. They had a whole complex plan to get your friends to come to the mine. They tricked us to help them try to kill your friends." Aunt Molly explained, her voice becoming louder, "They got so caught up in trying to make themselves great that they lost the last shreds of morality they had. They tried to kill us when we tried to stop them."

Aunt Molly looked on the verge of tears. She took a breath before continuing.

"You're the reason I'm alive right now, Mae. You're the reason Mr. Warton's alive. You're the reason your friends are alive. Thank you for saving us all at the last moment."

"They're okay?" Mae asked.

"They're fine."

Mae thought for a moment, "What about Bea's dad? Mr. Santello?"

Aunt Molly frowned and looked down at her cup of coffee.

"He didn't make it. They pushed him in before all the chaos started. I tried to save him, but I was still being held back, and then when I reached down after they let go of me…" Molly said, starting to tear up.

Mae put her hand on her aunt's shoulder and pulled her into a hug. She tried to comfort her aunt, despite the fact she hadn't really been all that close with her before.

So, Bea's dad was dead. Did Bea know? Fuck. That would be terrible. She already lost her mom. She didn't need anyone else gone in her life. Why did Mae have to mess everything up?!

Mae pulled Aunt Molly closer.

"I didn't even know him all that well. It was just so terrible. All of it. I had to sit and watch as he fell down the hole. He tried to cling on to the side. He held on as long as he could. He pleaded for us to help him." Aunt Molly cried, "And I don't know his daughter all that well either, but I know that she lost her mother. I know she works that one store all by herself. She doesn't deserve this. All of this is terrible."

They held each other for what felt like hours before Mae continued the conversation, trying desperately not to come off as inconsiderate.

"...What happened after that? How did we end up…" Mae gestured to the house she was in, "here?"

Aunt Molly wiped tears from her eyes, "After you hit that one fucker, everyone started to panic. A few people started to pull out their guns. One of them pulled out a knife. You just knocked them unconscious with that bat. No one could really see too well in the dark, and they were pretty much shooting at random. You managed to knock the cultists off of me and Mr. Warton, and I pulled out my gun and started to protect us."

She took a sip from her coffee.

"You went for as long as you could. You knocked out at least half of the guys there. But then the guy with the knife managed to stab you in your leg and you went down."

Mae looked down at her leg. Huh.

"I knocked out the rest of the guys down there. And then, me and Mr. Warton started to grab you and your friends and take them out of the mine. When we took the elevator up for the second time, the mine started to collapse again, and we barely made it out of there before we got crushed." Molly explained, "We had to go somewhere to fix everyone up, so we headed to Mr. Warton's house, which was close. And when we made it here, we patched everyone up."

So, they were in Germ's house. Okay. That made sense. Also, the mine collapsed again? Huh. Well, that was good.

"Where are my friends?" Mae questioned as Molly finished her coffee. She put the mug in the sink.

"They all woke up about a couple hours ago. They seemed fine, and after they tried wake you up, they left." Aunt Molly said, "They're probably at their houses. Er, well, Mr. Warton's kid isn't, I guess, but, you know."

Her friends were okay. That was good. Whether they would still be her friends after all that had happened was to be found out.

"So, uh, you can leave if you feel well enough. I patched up your leg, but if you need help, I can probably get someone," Aunt Molly said.

Mae really didn't want to bother anyone else that night. She had already fucked up enough. Besides, as long as she took it slow, she would be able to walk home, right?

"Nah, I can walk home. Thanks, though," Mae responded, heading towards the front door.

"No problem." Molly waved, "But, uh, you should get that stab wound actually checked out by a doctor. Just in case I didn't do a very good job."

"Alright. Thank you," Mae waved, stepping outside.

Wow, it was bright out here, yet so dark inside. They needed to open the blinds. Also, wow, her leg was already starting to hurt again.

Well, she said she could walk home on her own and walk home on her own she'd do. Besides, that would probably be the easiest thing she'd do that day. She'd have to deal with her friends and Bea's dead dad. Fucking hell.


	11. A Conclusion to Surpass Metal Gear

Okay, if you wanna read the notes I've been writing and then _forgetting_ to put in my stories, then read the Archive of Our Own version of my writings here: **/users/Brickmaster_Guy**

(Links don't work so just tag that onto the end of the Archive of Our Own website)

 _Ring._

Mae sat up. She was in her bed. Wow, she didn't even remember getting home.

 _Ring._

Her phone was ringing in her pocket. Sweet. She hadn't lost it or broken it after everything that happened in the mine. Mae picked it up and and answered it.

"Hey," Mae yawned.

"Mae!" Gregg shouted.

"Yeah?" Mae asked. She was too tired to shout. Or deal with Gregg, really.

"Come to Bea's apartment!"

"Alright,"

Mae hung up. At least Gregg still seemed happy talking to Mae. Really, Mae was worried about Bea. Bea was in town the entire time Mae was in the cult. Mae lied about her. Mae argued with her. And now, Bea's dad was dead.

Bea would probably hate her. And she deserved it.

Mae got up off of her bed and got ready to leave the house.

Mae had ruined Bea's life, hadn't she? Her dad was dead because of her. She had been orphaned. She had no remaining parents.

Mae headed down the stairs and quickly shouted to her mother that she was leaving, before exiting the house.

It looked like it had rained that morning. Huh. That was almost fitting.

Mae walked straight through the puddles in the sidewalk. She was too tired to hop around on the powerlines.

Mae twisted the doorknob to Bea's apartment, opening the door. It was a rather unceremonious entrance, but it was really the only entrance Mae could give.

Everyone in the apartment turned towards Mae as she walked through the door. It was sort of creepy to Mae. Bea and Gregg and Angus and Germ just sat still, waiting for Mae to… say something? Jeez, Mae was socially clueless.

"Uh… Hi?" Mae waved.

"...Mae!" Gregg shouted, a smile creeping across his face.

Well, at least Gregg was happy to see her. Even if she was way too tired to match his level of energy.

"Gregg!" Mae said, attempting to seem as energetic as Gregg. She walked over towards him and Bea.

"Dude! You saved our lives!"

Mae hoped that they weren't going to be praising her the whole time she was there. Mae wouldn't be able to handle that much positive shit.

"I guess I did!" Mae responded, still barely matching Gregg's amount of excitement.

Mae looked over towards Bea. She didn't seem happy in any sense. Ugh. Mae winced at the thought of how Bea would respond if Mae said anything to her.

"You did!" Gregg continued.

Mae didn't look over to Gregg. She continued to look at Bea, who wasn't looking at Mae. No one seemed to be looking at anyone. And yet, Gregg continued to wait for Mae's response.

"...Bea? Are you okay?" Mae empathetically asked.

Bea looked over towards Mae and put out the cigarette in her mouth.

"Me? Yeah. I'm perfectly fine," Bea only somewhat passive-aggressively answered.

Mae waited in the silence and thought for a moment.

"Are you sure? Because—" Mae began.

"I know what happened in the mine, Mae. I don't need you to explain everything that happened down there last night," Bea sternly said.

"I'm sorry, I was just—"

"You're sorry?! Well, thank you Mae! That makes up for everything!"

Gregg practically cringed and what Bea had said. He, as well as Angus and Germ, tried desperately to occupy themselves in order to avoid the argument brewing in front of them.

"Bea, I know that all of what I did was shitty, but—"

"What?! Joining a terrible murdercult is shitty? How could that _possibly_ be? If _that's_ shitty then lying to everyone about your friend must be shitty! Then killing their dad must be shitty!"

There was a lot to digest in that. And yet none of it sat well. Mae felt terrible.

Gregg nervously shifted in his seat and pulled out his phone.

"Bea, I didn't kill your dad! I didn't lie about you just to make you look bad! I didn't kill just for the fun of it!"

"You didn't just—" Bea yelled, looking over to Gregg and Angus, "Will you excuse us for a minute?"

Bea sat up and grabbed Mae's hand, walking into her room.

As she and Mae stepped into her room, she shut the door behind her and let go of Mae's hand, turning around to talk to her.

"Mae, I don't want you to tell me things I already know. I know that you lied to 'protect the group'. I know you didn't kill my dad. I know all that. I'm just mad, Mae. And I have a few reasons to be mad."

"Bea, I just wanted the best for you and everyone else. I thought that the cult would work."

"How? How could the cult have fixed anything?! How could they have helped? They killed people, Mae! They killed Casey! They almost killed us! They killed my dad!"

"I didn't know that they were going to do that! I thought that they would leave you alone!"

"Why would they leave me alone?! Because you were in the cult? Because you made the sudden decision to ditch me in favor of a cult? Because you lied about me behind my back? Because you lied to every single one of your friends? Because you killed someone? Why?! Why did you think that, Mae?!"

Mae's eyes began to water. She had tried desperately to keep herself from looking weak, yet failed.

"I just wanted to help. They told me that what they did helped the town and stuff. I just wanted to do what I could to help you."

"How could you believe what they said?"

"I was afraid! I was scared of them and what they had done and I was scared of what would happen if I didn't join! I believed them because I hoped that what they were saying was true!"

"Well it wasn't, was it?"

Mae began to cry and Bea lit a cigarette. They needed to stop arguing.

Bea sighed, "Look, Mae, I'm sorry. You were just doing what you thought would work. You had just been pressured into doing things for the cult. I get it. I'm just… I don't even know. Angry? Angry and sad and scared?"

Mae looked at Bea, wiping tears out of her eyes. God, she was such a baby. She could literally kill someone and assault a few dozen people without shedding a tear, but then she starts arguing with Bea and she starts whaling.

Bea exhaled a puff of smoke. She had lost track of how many cigarettes she'd had so far. She couldn't go to sleep when she got back to her apartment. She just kind of grieved and smoked. And drank. She was certainly going to die from lung cancer or alcohol poisoning or something. In fact, it was almost surprising that she had sobered up before Mae waltzed in.

"It's just that… I'm mad that you left so fast and did what you did. I'm still grieving my dad's death. And, I'm scared that you'll leave again," Bea explained. God, she was so dramatic and emotional sometimes.

"I've already lost my mom. And now I've lost my dad. He sucked, but he was still my dad. He was kinda all I had left. And now you're it." Bea continued, "You also suck sometimes. Leaving me for a cult was pretty bad. As was lying about me for at least two straight days. But you're still… ugh. I lost it. All I'm saying, Mae, is that I don't want you to leave again."

Mae couldn't believe how open Bea was being. It made Mae feel like that much more of a jerk for helping the cult. But Bea still loved her. That was almost shocking, but that didn't matter to Mae. She leaned towards Bea and wrapped her arms around her.

They were both still somewhat unhappy, for different reasons, but it felt nice just to be in each other's arms. They probably looked like idiots, too, but they still held each other, just enjoying the warmth of each other.

It would probably take a while to fix everything that had happened in just the night prior, but it felt nice just knowing that they were fixed. They had endured every fuck up Mae had made. They had survived, even if so many others hadn't.

And now everyone was back together. Gregg and Angus were back in Possum Springs, at least for the time being, Bea and Mae were back to sucking at being girlfriends, and Germ was there. It was almost as if they having another band practice. Only one with no music and a lot of yelling. Maybe they should have an actual band practice, though. It would be nice to dust off their instruments again and just kind of ignore everything that had happened. That would certainly be the easiest option, wouldn't it? And goddamnit, they needed something to relax with.


End file.
